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Welcome to Perspectives,
the online magazine published by the Office of the General Assembly.
Perspectives
offers an exploration of issues facing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
and its witness in society through
- reflective and
provocative analysis of our life together as a denomination, and
- the lenses of
Scripture, Reformed theology, cultures, and a constitutional and confessional
framework.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Struggles. Conflicts. Differences. They are rampant across the world, in our country, and in the church. This month’s issue addresses them from a number of perspectives.
Here’s a brief look at the contents:
 Last month’s issue of Perspectives featured an article by Milton Winter entitled, “ Presbyterians and Separatist Evangelicals: A Continuing Dilemma. ” The article sparked an energetic conversation, to the point that we offer here a different perspective on the subject. The writer, Casey Winfield Jones, says, “[Winter] is quite critical of his fellow Christians in the body of Christ in the PC(USA) who are evangelical. In most of the article, he makes no distinction between separatist evangelicals and evangelicals in general. I have to say that, in my opinion, Winter offers an articulate and well-written article that is very biased and, at times, rather mean.” Jones has for over twenty years been the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Pearland, Texas.
The 300 th anniversary of American Presbyterianism was celebrated in Philadelphia on October 1, 2006. At a celebration commemorating the anniversary, James Moorhead spoke on “Presbyterians and Conflict in Historical Perspective,” the text of which we feature here. Moorhead asks, “Have we Presbyterians ever enjoyed an ecclesiastical Camelot? The historical facts testify that we have not. Diversity, dissensions, and sometimes nasty fights and splits have formed an important part of our story since the colonial era.” This address is an expanded and revised version of an essay that originally appeared in The Presbyterian Outlook and is used by permission. James H. Moorhead is professor of American church history at Princeton Theological Seminary and senior editor of The Journal of Presbyterian History.
The inaugural issue of Perspectives was five years ago this month. To mark the moment, we revisit an article from that first issue, “Bearing with One Another: The Pastoral Task in Times of Struggle,” by Sheldon Sorge. “Coming to a common mind in times of serious disagreement is a long, laborious, often exasperating process,” he writes. “It takes immense forbearance and determination alike. The great controversies of the faith have taken the church years, often decades, sometimes generations to resolve. The heritage of the great church councils reminds us that even the most faithful, willing, and capable of the church’s saints need plenty of time, hard work, and unshakable cheer to come to consensus in times of disagreement.” Sorge is associate director of the Louisville Institute, a Lilly Endowment program for the study of American religion based at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary.
Joan Gray, Moderator of the 217th General Assembly (2006) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), was installed last month as parish associate of First Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia. We offer “On Building Bridges,” the text of the sermon that George Wirth, pastor of the congregation, preached on the occasion. In it, he said, “ Now you would think that we as Christians, who believe that the Bible is true, and have promised to follow Jesus Christ in everything that we say and do — you would think that we would be the finest, most faithful, and productive bridge-builders of all. But that has not always been so.”
February is Black History Month. In recognition of that, and before the memory of January’s holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., fades, we offer a sermon by William Stacy Johnson that was delivered on the actual holiday last month. Addressing the issue of violence, Johnson asked the congregation, “Will we never learn that when violence becomes our primary way of dealing with problems, it not only makes the problems worse, but something even much more alarming happens? As King knew well, it comes to infect our very souls.” Johnson holds the Arthur M. Adams Chair of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.
We close with another sermon, this one from Conrad Rocha. In “Inner Attitude,” Rocha shares the account of his encounter with another person and the poignant learning from the experience: “ I agreed to give this young man a ride because he appeared to be like me — a college student, clean cut, polite. He was, in my judgment, my ‘neighbor’ and, therefore, deserving of my help. Needless to say, before we reached Central Avenue, he pulled out a knife and directed me to turn off the main road….” We commend his words to any and all of us who struggle with difference. Rocha, a Presbyterian elder, is chief financial officer of Menaul School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a member of the General Assembly Council.
Do
you have suggestions for future issues or other comments to share? Drop
us a line.
Sharon
K. Youngs, Editor
.
All Rights Reserved.
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